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Video Shows Dramatic Arrest of Man Driving Wife to Give Birth

Dashcam video has been released, showing the arrest of a man speeding to the hospital with his wife, who was in labor, in Hebron, Indiana. NBC 5's Natalie Martinez reports. (Published Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2015)

An Indiana man trying to drive his pregnant wife to the hospital says he was unlawfully pulled over and arrested, causing him to miss his daughter’s birth.

Recently released dashcam footage obtained by the Northwest Indiana Times shows the encounter as it happened and the couple says it’s taken more than three years to have the husband’s arrest record cleared.

The incident happened in January 2012 when Dana and James Reiner were pulled over by Hebron police while driving to the hospital.

“I honestly thought, ‘Is this really happening?’” said Dana Reiner. “It's kind of like one of those pinch myself am I dreaming, because this can’t possibly be happening.”

Dashcam footage from that night shows James Reiner getting out of their Lincoln Town car and immediately getting to the ground as an officer yells.

“The police officer was screaming at me,” he said. “Sirens were left on but it sounded like there was a possibility of me getting shot. So, I rolled down onto the ground and at that time he ran over to me at gunpoint and put his knee to my back and cuffed me as I lay on the ground.”

James Reiner said he thought when the couple pulled over, they would be taken to the hospital in an ambulance. Dana Reiner was eventually taken away in one, but her husband was taken to the police station for allegedly resisting arrest and fleeing the scene.

Three minutes after she arrived at the hospital, Dana Reiner said her daughter was born. The baby had her umbilical cord wrapped around her twice, Dana Reiner said.

“[The doctor] said if I had her on the side of the road with people who didn’t know what they were doing, she wouldn’t be alive today,” she said.

The officer involved in the incident is now working for the Portage Police Department, officials said. The Portage Police Department referred any questions surrounding the incident to Hebron Police, but they weren’t immediately available to comment.

The Reiners said they tried to press criminal charges against the officer and police department two years ago, but instead, they’re now pushing to have James Reiner’s arrest record expunged, according to his attorney Mike Loomis.